Throughout time there has been a real need for people to find a way to functionally transport heavy bulky items easily without undue stress upon the user's body. Backpacks allow users to carry a pre-determined heavy or bulky article load without undue stress upon their own skeletal structure. Heavier weight or bulk than can be comfortably or safely carried upon one's back have been placed upon wheeled carts or dollies thus allowing the wheels to transfer the weight of the load directly to the ground surface and sparing the user from physically carrying such weight or bulk. Combination shoulder-carrying wheeled cart frame assemblies have been used for years to give the user both options of carrying or wheeling heavy or bulky articles within one device. These devices have been limited to carrying heavy or bulky articles on the front side of the wheeled cart frame in the form of an attachable bag or directly upon the wheeled cart frame itself functioning as a wheeled dolly. Use of the back side of the wheeled cart frame for additional carrying capacity is a function lacking in prior art devices.
When being used as a wheeled cart without a back side frame load, the backpack harness straps will hang limp, and there is a need to manage the frame attached backpack harness straps so they do not drag on the ground when the wheeled cart is being pulled. There has not been exhibited a method to provide for such management of the harness straps.
There are times when the user might want to attach a shoulder-carriable wheeled cart assembly to a mobile passenger vehicle such as a bicycle or moped. There are prior art devices for attaching backpacks, carry bags, baskets, and shoulder-carriable wheeled cart frames to mobile passenger vehicles. The present design attaches and secures a shoulder-carriable wheeled cart assembly to such mobile passenger vehicle, which is a capability lacking in prior art devices.
There are many prior art devices that include the functional elements of a shoulder-carriable wheeled cart assembly. Such shoulder-carriable wheeled cart assemblies include detachable and adjustable backpack harness straps that the user can wear over their shoulders and carry such device as a backpack. They also include the ability to set such shoulder-carriable wheeled cart frame assemblies on the ground and extending a pull handle thus creating the ability to pull such cart assembly behind the user allowing the shoulder-carriable wheeled cart assembly to support the heavy or bulky articles placed into or upon the cart. Wheels for such cart assemblies have been exhibited as permanently affixed, foldable, or detachably mounted to such cart frame. A bag can be fastened to the front side of the wheeled cart frame thus having the frame function as an external backpack frame or the bag can be removed and the wheeled frame can function as a utility dolly.
Lacking among prior art devices is the ability to secure additional objects to the back side of the shoulder-carriable wheeled cart assembly for additional carrying capacity. Prior devices include an attached bag fastened to the front side of the frame, or the bare frame itself being used as a utility dolly. Also lacking among prior art devices is a mechanism for managing the backpack harness straps so as to keep them off the ground when the device is being used as a rolling cart. Prior art devices also lack the ability to be easily and securely mounted attached to a mobile passenger vehicle.
Exemplary prior art devices include those disclosed in Cahill U.S. Pat. No. 493,348, Talbott U.S. Pat. No. 2,401,986, Strand U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,997, Nakatani U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,307, Caneba U.S. Pat. No. 7,143,912, Brilando U.S. Pat. No. 3,603,549, Humlong U.S. Pat. No. 4,282,993, Lyman U.S. Pat. No. 2,327,537, Alerks U.S. Pat. No. 2,457,624, Tracy U.S. Pat. No. 3,560,015, Hine U.S. Pat. No. 4,056,219, Murphy U.S. Pat. No. 4,368,835, Kullen U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,332, Lange U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,841, Buofford U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,933, Stevenson U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,307, Russo U.S. Pat. No. 7,597,341, Smith U.S. Pat. No. 2,128,174, Glenny U.S. Pat. No. 2,143,065, Pawsat U.S. Pat. No. 2,498,446, Meier U.S. Pat. No. 2,700,493, Fritz U.S. Pat. No. 3,517,867, Ockenden U.S. Pat. No. 7,273,221, and Crum U.S. Pat. No. 8,322,583.
The present shoulder-carriable wheeled cart assembly overcomes shortcomings and limitations of related prior art devices by providing the ability to carry additional articles in a simple and convenient manner. The present shoulder-carriable wheeled cart assembly also provides the ability to manage backpack harness straps so they don't drag on the ground when the shoulder-carriable wheeled cart assembly is being used in pull cart mode. The present shoulder-carriable wheeled cart assembly also provides the ability to easily and securely mount attach the assembly to a mobile passenger vehicle such as a bicycle.
The capacity to carry one or more heavy, bulky articles is provided at the back side of the shoulder-carriable wheeled cart assembly by the addition of two foldable or detachable support pegs that extend substantially perpendicularly from the back side of the frame. A detachable support tray that spans the support pegs provides a shelf-like surface upon which the additional heavy or bulky article(s) rest. If the articles to be carried are of suitable size and weight, they could be supported by the pegs alone. The detachable adjustable backpack harness straps adjustably tighten around the article(s) to secure them between and against the back side of the frame and to also secure the article(s) atop the bridged support tray or pegs alone, thereby preventing the article(s) from falling or slipping off the support tray or pegs.
When using the shoulder-carriable wheeled cart assembly without a back side frame load and as a pull cart with the handle extended, the harness straps are pulled up and kept off the ground with a self-retracting strap. In one embodiment, the retraction strap is an elastic strap that is looped around the backpack harness straps and attached to the telescoping handle. When the handle is extended, the looped self-retracting strap elastic strap provides tension and pulls the detachable adjustable backpack harness straps upward, thereby preventing slack in the harness straps that would allow them to drag on the ground when the cart is being pulled.
The user of the shoulder-carriable wheeled cart assembly may wish to attach the device to a mobile passenger vehicle such as a bicycle or moped. The present device provides a way of securing the shoulder-carriable wheeled frame assembly to a mobile passenger vehicle. A mobile passenger vehicle docking fixture securely attaches to a mobile passenger vehicle, such as a bicycle or moped, and receives and secures the shoulder-carriable wheeled cart assembly frame bottom cross member to the bottom horizontal structure of the rigid “L” shaped docking fixture. An adjustable “U” channel shaped receptacle bar attached sideways across and to the docking fixture bottom horizontal structure of the docking fixture receives the shoulder-carriable wheeled cart frame bottom cross member. This allows the weight of the articles loaded onto the shoulder-carriable wheeled cart assembly to be supported on the docking fixture, which is securely mounted to the mobile passenger vehicle. The bar and channel receptacle attachment method secures the bottom end of the cart frame and prevents the frame from slipping forwards or backwards on the docking fixture. The bottom surface of the shoulder-carriable wheeled cart frame bottom cross member has 2 spaced stop pegs extending perpendicular from the bottom surface that straddle the “U” channel shaped receptacle bar end to end, stop pegs positioned directly at docking fixture receptacle bar ends. Using this blocking method eliminates side to side movement of the cart frame bottom cross member within the docking fixture. The shoulder-carriable wheeled cart frame bottom cross member can be securely latched into the “U” channel shaped receptacle bar. Both spring tension and mechanical methods of pinning or containing and releasing the frame bottom cross member to and from the “U” channel shaped docking fixture receptacle bar. The “U” channel shaped receptacle bar is adjustable forwards and backwards on the bottom horizontal structure of the docking fixture. The mated and secured assembly formed between the cart frame, the docking fixture and the releasable latching mechanism limits vertical movement of the shoulder-carriable wheeled cart frame within the docking fixture receptacle bar slot. The cart frame is thereby prevented from becoming detached from the docking fixture if the mobile passenger vehicle hits a bump or otherwise experiences up and down motion. When mounted on a bicycle, the upper portion of the shoulder-carriable wheeled cart assembly is preferably secured to the bicycle handle bars by a detachable self-retracting strap elastic cord that limits forward travel of the upper portion of the cart assembly under braking conditions.